


My Blood is Radioactive, My Heart is Nucleur

by DocDufresne (orphan_account)



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: F/M, High School AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 06:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3436775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/DocDufresne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil shows a growing interest in the new student, Carlos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jerry the Sentient Pile of Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> Still needs to be edited and revised. Title inspired by Radioactive by Marina and the Diamonds.

"Heard there's a new kid in town. He's pretty cute, according to the rumors. I personally haven't seen him yet, but a great deal of people already have," Earl whispered to Cecil, while Mr. McDaniels explained about the different branches of government and their purposes.  
"That's odd. The last new student was a sentient pile of leaves. He was actually pretty funny. The new-new student isn't anything like that?" Cecil tapped his pencil aimlessly, blinking down at his desk.  
  
"Not at all. I heard that he actually looks kinda...normal, albeit somewhat dorky," Earl sighed, "Why can't we have a cool new student for once?"  
  
"Hey, don't diss Jerry! Jerry was the best pile of leaves a person could ever meet!" Cecil pouted, just barely stopping himself from slamming his fist on the table. Jerry had understood him on a level that no one else did, not even Earl. What a shame Jerry had to move again though. Earl would just never be able to understand the connection that had been between Cecil and Jerry.  
  
"Do you two have a word to share with the rest of the class?" Mr. McDaniels distracted the two from their conversation, his voice drawling on in that Southern accent of his, "Because I'm positive Carlos here would like to hear." Mr. McDaniels blinked, his indifferent expression turning to that of a furious one, roaring out, "And if it doesn't leave a good impression of the pain and suffering this school stands for, I shall rip your heads straight from your bodies!"  
  
"Carlos?" Cecil was so used to the mood swings of Mr. McDaniels, that he just ignored it and settled on tilting his head curiously, phrasing his question as a single word.  
  
"Our new student. Was just explainin' to me why he was late when you two hooligans interrupted, talking about leaves and whatnot," Mr. McDaniels returned to his normal self (what even WAS his normal self anymore?), and Cecil blinked, before another student stepped out from behind Mr. McDaniels to peer at the offending students.  
  
Cecil's jaw dropped when his stare met Carlos' and he immediately swiveled his head around to stare at Earl with wide eyes, a blush settling upon his cheeks.  
  
"What Cecil MEANT to say is that no, we don't have anything to share with the class," Earl spoke up after a small, unspoken argument between the two, sighing exasperatedly.  
  
"Earl..." Cecil hissed, "They weren't just rumors," He sighed dreamily as he placed his face in his arms on the desk, "He's so gorgeous."  
  
"Cecil, AGAIN? You need to stop doing this, you're gonna get hurt in the end," Earl huffed, irritably pretending to scrawl down notes.  
  
"Stop doing what?" Cecil scoffed, lifting his head ever-so-slightly to send an offended glance Earl's way.  
  
"Getting crushes on people you only just met! It's crazy. He hasn't even spoken a single word to you yet. In fact, you haven't even heard him speak a single word to ANYBODY," Earl shook his head disdainfully, dropping his pen for only a moment.  
  
"But...But...But I never said that I had a crush on him, I just said that he was attractive!" Cecil stumbled over his words, rouge misting his cheeks again. Earl knew him all too well by now. He huffed, "You can't run my life, you're not my mother or anything."  
  
"I don't mean to sound harsh, but your mother isn't even your real mother. She's a whole celestial body vaguely in the shape of a human," Earl stared at Cecil with half-lidded eyes. Cecil decided to give in, Earl had good intentions...and knew that whenever he brought out the truth of his ""mother,"" Cecil had to give into whatever Earl was saying.  
  
"Fine...You're right, I'm sorry. I promise I'll try not to have a crush on Carlos...Perfect Carlos," Cecil sighed, his eyes drifting downward.  
  
"No, I'm not telling you not to have a crush on him. Only you, and the city council of course, can stop yourself from liking someone. Just...just at least get to know the kid before you start trying to smooch him or whatever," Earl pretend-gagged, to which Cecil leant over the desk, and playfully punched his shoulder.  
  
"Fine. I promise I'll 'get to know the kid before I start trying to smooch him or whatever'," Cecil echoed lightheartedly.  
  
The two went on with their first period, neither saying another word about Carlos.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm going to finish this fanfiction, and if I do, then this is just going to be a hiatus, but this chapter isn't nearly finished. I'm just posting what I have of it for anyone who wants it.  
> Also, later is the mention of an unknown female character (who represents a high school version of the interns). Her name is Kam and she's just another OC I've had for a while. Me and my girlfriend made matching OCs and I've really grown attached to mine.  
> 

Lunch finally came around, bringing with it the disappointment that Carlos wasn't in Cecil's second period. Maybe he would be in his third period, but a person could only hope.  
  
After Cecil bought his lunch, he immediately spotted Dana, Earl, and some other kid that he would occasionally talk to but didn't know the name to sitting at their usual table and made his way over there, trying not to trip on anybody's tentacles.

There would always be a new kid at their table every other day, but they always ended up mysteriosuly disappearing, so much to the point that Cecil learned to just not learn their names. It's not like they were going to stay long enough for him to actually use it.  
  
"So, Earl, how'd Home Ec. go?" Cecil grinned mischievously, eyes twinkling as he approached,"A little birdy told me that there was a little...mishap."  
  
"Dana Cardinal, you told Cecil?!" A blush dawned on Earl's face, and he scowled, furious eyes widening, "I cannot possibly believe you right now, you...you...you jerk!"  
  
"You really got me with that one, Earl," Dana rolled her eyes, snickering all the while, "At least I didn't insult my crush, then proceed to spill cookie dough all over them."  
  
"They were ACCIDENTS! I didn't realize that Sarah would take offense to me saying that rocks are heavy! And then YOU tripped me," Turning his gaze away, Earl pouted, honestly looking on the verge of tears.  
  
"Earl!" Cecil's hand finding its way to his mouth in displeased awe, "You really said that? In front of Sarah especially?! And you're calling Dana the jerk?! Tsk tsk, Earl. Tsk tsk."  
  
"I still can't believe you have a crush on SARAH, of all people," Needless to say, when Dana tried to hide her smirk, she failed horribly.  
  
"Whatever," Earl mumbled embarrassedly behind his lunch box, burying his face in the material.  
  
"Oh, I forgot to grab my silverware, I'll be right back," Cecil rose to his feet, glancing over his tray quickly.  
  
"While you're over there, can you get another packet of ketchup for me?" The mousy, other person finally spoke. Squinting, Cecil tried his best to sum her up in a couple seconds. Dyed-dark purple hair shaved on one side, dark brown (borderline black) eyes, dimples, pale, kinda chubby. She seemed alright, though a tad too quiet for his liking.  
  
"Also, grab some chips from the vending machine, I'm starving," Dana halfheartedly tossed a dollar in his direction, merely watching as it landed at his feet.  
  
"Why can't YOU do that?" Cecil scoffed, kneeling to pick up the bill.  
  
"Too lazy," She simply stated, her half-lidded, intense stare leaving no room for argument.  
  
"Fine, what chips do you want?"  
  
"I'll devour whatever you put in front of my face right now, I think anything would be fine," Dana beamed at finally getting what she wanted. Her lips were pulled back in a polite smile, and most people would credulously assume that the gleam in her eyes was youth and joy, but really it was just mischief and a _really, really_ intense love for dirt. Cecil considered her for a moment, not fooled at all by her super adorable looks. She had the ability to chug a whole gallon of milk in under a minute without even gagging. Dana was an unstoppable force to be feared, even he knew that much.  
  
A whole goddamn gallon of milk.  
  
"Oh, can you also grab me a bottle of water from the vending machine too? I forgot to pack my own today," Earl placed a $5 bill in Cecil's hand, chewing away at his sandwich already.  
  
"What am I? Everybody's butler? You all better feel lucky you're my friends, otherwise you'd be performing your own labor." Cecil strode over to the bucket of ketchup packets at the back of the cafeteria, trying to keep his eyes locked forward, but he couldn't help it; it was like they had a mind of their own. They just kept wandering. As the famous quote goes 'Not all who wander are lost.' His eyes were definitely not lost, they knew where to lock onto.

When his hand was shoved in the bucket, fishing for some packets, he noticed a table that used to be completely empty, but now had one person sitting there, flipping his way through...a textbook, Cecil guessed from the look of it. The kid's hair looked perfect as ever, and glasses perched high on his angular nose. Such a strong jaw too. His beautiful, gray eyes traveled upward, to clash with Cecil's awestruck stare.  
  
Cecil immediately snapped out of it, sending his gaze away as quick possible, snatching up some ketchup packets and dashed to the vending machine, his back to the ever-so-perfect Carlos. He hurried to fumble with the dollar as he shoved it in the machine, cursing to himself when it wouldn't take the dollar at first. The gnashing teeth in the machine nearly ripped off his whole hand before it spit out the dollar. After retrying and it successfully taking his dollar, he hurriedly typed in the number for the chips he had his eyes on, grabbing the bag and change as fast as he could, then moved over to the vending machine next to the one he had been at, this one for drinks.  
  
Now with ketchup, chips, and bottle of water in hands, Cecil retreated back to his table, secretly sighing a small breath of relief.  
  
"Jesus, Cecil, did you run a marathon? You took forever," Dana spoke loudly as soon as Cecil was close enough to hear.  
  
"Not to mention that his face is as purple as the town symbol," The girl Cecil didn't know raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of her, gratefully taking the ketchup after muttering a small "Thank you."  
  
Earl shot a concerned glance Cecil's way, almost as if he knew the true reason Cecil was so shaken up (he probably did), but said nothing as he took the water bottle from him.  
  
"What chips did you get me?" Dana asked, suddenly more interested in the food than Cecil's personal business, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the bag.  
  
"Despair-flavored," Cecil tossed the bag across the table to Dana and she caught it, fist-pumping right after doing so.  
  
"Sweet! How'd you know that these are my favorite?!" Dana tore open the bag, already shoveling some into her mouth.  
  
"Actually, the only two chips left were those and barbecue," Cecil gagged, "And everybody knows that the barbecue chips are the absolute worst." Cecil settled down in his seat, staring down at his tray, processing what was in front of him. Or, more like, what WASN'T in front of him, "Oh! Duh!" He smacked his palm to his forehead suddenly, "I forgot what *I* needed! I'll be right back again." Cecil stood up, striding over to where the silverware was, grabbing one, and spinning around on his heels, letting his eyes flutter to Carlos hesitantly.  
  
He gave in.  
  
He didn't realize he gave in (or even that he had walked over to the table Carlos was huddled at) until he was sliding into the seat across from said cutie.  
  
Carlos glanced up from scribbling down something in a notebook next to his textbook, keeping his gaze locked with Cecil for a moment before returning to writing.  
  
"Were you staring at me before?" Carlos spoke, surprising Cecil, who had been busy trying to actually formulate words.  
  
"Uh, well...If you put it THAT way," Cecil frowned at the table below him, obviously flustered, and now finding himself unable to look back up at Carlos, "But, um, y-yeah, I guess I was. I'm Cecil." He internally scolded himself for being uncharacteristic by stuttering and stumbling over his words.  
  
"I figured. You probably know already from that show Mr. McDaniels put on, but I'm Carlos. And, uh, why exactly are you over here?" Carlos flipped his notebook closed, placed it in his textbook as a page holder, and shut the textbook, all the while maintaining a consistent stare on Cecil, before cringing slightly at his own wording, "Sorry, that sounded rude. It's just that no one else is sitting over here, and it's not like anybody forced you to come over here....Unless it was a dare. It was a dare, wasn't it?"  
  
"No, no, no! You just...looked kinda lonely...?" Cecil shrugged, still not bringing himself to meet Carlos' unrelenting gaze. After a couple beats of tense silence between the two, Cecil cleared his throat, "So...what was that you were reading?"  
  
"Science textbook. Managed to grab it earlier, even though I obviously didn't have science today. I just decided to get ahead of the game by flipping through it. Y'know, since I'm moving here in the middle of the school year, I might be a little behind," Carlos sighed boredly, resting his jaw on his hand, "Although it seems that the material for this whole year I already know. I really wish there was a higher honors science class."  
  
"Oh? So you're, like, an aspiring scientist? Or, what, astronaut? Astronomer? Physicist?" Cecil beamed, finally looking up to meet Carlos' storm cloud (but not Glow Cloud...Nothing can compare to the Glow Cloud--ALL HAIL)-gray eyes, which seemed to soften as soon they exchanged eye contact.  
  
"You were right the first time. Scientist. I wanna understand exactly how the world and everything in it works," Carlos' eyes seemed to zone out, his mouth stretched into the lightest of smiles. Cecil couldn't help to admire his daydreaming expression, the way the terrible lighting in the cafeteria hits his face just right, the way his hair is just the right amount of wavy, and th--  
  
"Well, what do you wanna be when you grow up....Cecil, was it?" Carlos snapped Cecil from his adoring thoughts.  
  
"Radio host," Cecil repeated, the response automatic by now. He had already been asked so many times by so many different adults that he didn't even need to think about it. The odd, almost disapproving looks those adults would send him afterwards always made him hesitate, them always adding 'Don't you want to work for the Sheriff's Secret Police, not that they exist? Or as a spider tamer? Just anything, BUT a radio host.'  
  
Carlos seemed to ponder something for a moment before his expression immediately brightened, a grin stretching it's way across his lips, "Yeah, you definitely have the voice for it."  
  
Cecil seemed taken aback for a moment, processing the compliment Carlos had so casually tossed his way. In that moment of Cecil blinking blankly, his mind whirring away, he also realized that he was absolutely screwed, totally head-over-heels for this boy.  
  
"Uh, Cecil?" Cecil could hear the voice in front of him, but he was so busy coming to terms with the fact that he was utterly entranced and infatuated with an actual person now.  
  
"Cecil?" The voice repeated.  
  
"CECIL?!" Another voice screeched, but this time, right in his ear.  
  
Cecil immediately flinched away from the voice, his face contorting into a grimace as his hand flew to his ear, "Dana! What is wrong with you?! I could've died from being startled by loud noises!"  
  
"I know," Her expression was smug as she spoke, "Anyways, how about you stop flirting and come back to your lunch? It's horribly rude to leave just Earl, Kamryn, and me to fight off your salad. I'm actually lucky I got away, it managed grab hold of my spork," Dana growled, staring across the cafeteria at the monstrosity trying to devour Earl. For some reason that Cecil understood all too well, the girl apparently named Kamryn was missing from the scenario.  
  
"I think you guys can handle it, though I suppose I should write a eulogy or an apology letter to her family or something for...Kamryn, was it?" Cecil sighed, his tone more inconvenienced than concerned.  
  
"Wait, wait, wait...what's going on?" Eyebrows furrowed confusedly and his lips parted ever so slightly, Carlos blinked blankly, "Flirting? Fighting off a salad? Eulogy? What in the world?"  
  
"I know, right? I would've expected them to win by now without me! And eulogies are always so unnecessary and long-winded," Cecil shook his head.  
"Well, we haven't! So, how about you leave your boyfriend alone for 2 seconds to just defeat your salad already!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> acidic pride and fishy flip-flops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaaaa! i lied!!! i said that i wouldnt bring this story back, but here i am! back with cecilos feels  
>   
> im so sorry to all of you that enjoyed this story and expected me to just leave it there and im sorry to all the people that expected this story to be completely dropped and stopped reading it  
>   
> just a headsup that the canon universe doesnt completely affect this one?? if it ever does, then itll end up being later in the story (especially for the stuff happening in the more recent episodes of wtnv)  
>   
> 

Opposite to what he had desperately hoped, Carlos was NOT in Cecil's third period class, English. Actually...Was he? Cecil couldn't quite remember what happened that class period, he never really could. Had Carlos been in that class? Who was the teacher again? Did she even have a name or a face? Was it a she? Did they even exist? Did time even passed since lunch time? Had Cecil been in complete control of his body?

  
Dazed, Cecil found himself drifting along the crowd, not daring to look up at the shadowy figures crouching on top of the lockers tauntingly, just daring for a student to look up at them and find out what happens. Cecil did not want to know what would happen. As he passed by the last one, one leaned down so close he could feel its hot breath on his ear and whispered in a low, hoarse voice, ¨Join anime cluuubbbbb.¨

  
An involuntary shudder racked through Cecil's tall frame, but he continued on down the hall and down 3 sets of stairs, a ladder, and a sliding pole, just a short walk, until he finally reached homeroom.

  
¨Hello, Josie! Hello, Erika, Erika, and Erika!¨ Cecil beamed at the four, not directly making eye contact with the trio standing protectively in a half-circle around the crotchety old woman scribbling incoherent words on the whiteboard. Two of them a pale white, almost glowing, one a dark color that Cecil would swear is a deep gray, the color of ashes. The color of sweet, sweet Carlos' eyes. The gray one stared straight at him, eyes unblinking, form unwavering, expression unreadable.

  
¨Cecil,¨ Erika spoke as greeting, voice sounding like when you slowly let air out of a balloon.

  
¨Cecil,¨ Erika scowled at the blonde boy, voice sounding like when you scratch a plate with a fork.

  
¨Cecil,¨ Erika sniffed without even a glance in Cecil's way, voice sounding like when you rip tape off of a paper.

  
¨Cecil!¨ A voice that was definitely not one of the Erikas yelped from the doorway to the classroom, ¨You're never gonna guess who's in my art class.¨ Cecil turned to see the rapacious grin on Earl's face as he approached, a knowing glint evident in his eyes.

  
Cecil paused, staring wide-eyed in utter disbelief, ¨No way.¨

  
¨Mhmm.¨

  
¨Jerry?!¨ Cecil gasped, hands covering his mouth. Tears may or may not have begun to well up his eyes. He would come to deny that the tears ever existed, that it was just the intense smell of sulfur in the room reminding him of his lost gerbil, but everyone knew better. Everyone knew.

  
Earl's grin dropped immediately, ¨What? No, it's...It's Carlos. The boy you're fawning over? He's in art. So far, he's only good at drawing eukaryotic cells and anatomy. He's terrible at everything else, though.¨

  
¨Oh, right. Yeah. Him,¨ Cecil hummed, ¨Cells and anatomy, huh? True scientist at heart,¨ Pride seeped from his voice, dripping onto the linoleum floor and melting a hole through it with its acidic content. The two stared, watching helplessly as the hole grew to expose them to the class below. Cecil poked his head upside-down into the large hole, followed by an arm to wave at the two teachers in the front of the packed class. The two teachers were both mid-growl (the growl directed at the other, of course), arms raised as if about to fight. In their burly hands were makeshift maces gripped tightly. Their genders were unidentifiable, faces hidden by burqas. Only sharp, aggressive eyes that immediately locked onto Cecil's sudden appearances could be seen. The only difference between the two was the fact that Alicia's solid-colored eyes were violet, while Doug's were yellow.

  
¨Sorry, Doug, Alicia! Won't happen again, I swear,¨ Cecil grinned sheepishly, pulling his head back up when Alicia chucked a textbook off their desk and directed straight at Cecil's head. He poked his face down again a couple seconds later when he knew it was safe (or as safe as Night Vale High could be).

 

¨I swear! Never again. Cross my hearts, hope to die. Have a good day,¨ Cecil returned to his designated room, pausing to fix his hair as gray Erika came over and ¨fixed¨ the hole in the floor by placing a rug over it.

 

The rest of homeroom was spent in chatter, Josie throwing in a comment into each student's conversations every so often. The Erikas hovered around the room, keeping watch over the kids. The scream that signified the end of class resounded through the hallways, and Cecil and Earl leapt up at the same time, Cecil groaning about how he had gym next and how he had to see Steve Carlsburg. Stupid Steve Carlsburg. Stupid Steve Carlsburg with his stupid tests and stupid pedometers. Who even used pedometers anymore? Everyone knew that large hoop earrings were all the rage now, not those stupid squares with numbers. Who even knew what those numbers could mean?!

 

The duo strolled the hallways together, but eventually, Cecil's conversation was interrupted by Earl suddenly jumping up into a missing tile in the ceiling to head on down to Geometry, while Cecil just continued walking down the hall to the locker rooms.

 

He was the first one in and set about to unlocking his locker, then grabbing his leotard and fish flop-flops. Just as he started to undress, button-up shirt already off and beginning to slip off of his fur pants, familiar faces began to swarm in. He finally noticed a friend in this crowd, ¨Edwin!¨

  
Edwin was one of many transfer students. The school received a new transfer student immediately after the last one had ¨mysteriously disappeared.¨ Immediately, as in within the time span of a single class period. Rumor spread that they kept these kids in a closet somewhere and let one loose when the last one died. What a stupid theory. After all, _everyone_ knew that every closet in the school has an empty black void that leads to the midst of outer space, duh.

  
And, for some odd reason, even if Cecil had never seen the transfer student in his life, he could always recognize them. And, oh yeah, the transfer students definitely knew him. Even if the closet rumor were false, everyone knew that the rumor that every transfer student that comes into contact with Cecil ends up dead is true.

  
Fear filled Edwin's eyes as he acknowledged Cecil, eyes widening and shoulders tensing up. Nonetheless, he still approached, a tight-lipped smile forced onto his face as he begin to slip off his jacket.

  
¨Edwin, you will not BELIEVE the day I've had so far,¨ Cecil grinned warmly, causing the tension in Edwin to visibly loosen up a little, ¨I met someone, someone so amazing, so perfect. I was talking to Earl about him and I was so full of love and affection that I even melted a hole in the floor with my words!" Cecil let loose a laugh, ¨Don't you hate when that happens?¨

  
¨Oh? What's his name?¨ Edwin didn't dare to point out the fact that he may have known who Cecil was, but he had no idea who Earl was. As the two chatted politely, they were changing from one outfit to another.

  
¨Carlos!¨ Cecil all but squealed, the entire room going incredibly silent at that exact moment. Violet misted over his cheeks as he realized this and hushed his tone a bit, ¨His name is Carlos, and he smells like lavendar chewing gum, and he's a scientist, and he has perfect hair. I'm in love, Edwin! Love! It's so excrutiantingly painful and wonderful at the same time!¨

  
Edwin only hummed in response, not quite listening to that whole thing, rather just focusing on keeping that multi-headed, tentacle-covered creature in the corner of the room that was watching him carefully with a hungry glint in its eyes. His dark brown eyes kept darting back to that corner, seemingly transfixed. Cecil didn't notice this, of course, as he was still going on about Carlos and how amazing he was.

  
¨I suppose,¨ Cecil paused to slip on his fish flip-flops before turning to the fully-dressed Edwin, ¨we should head out now.¨

  
¨I suppose we should...I suppose we should,¨ Edwin murmured, echoing the words lightly. As if in a trance, he stood up abruptly and followed after Cecil as they merged with the crowd of kids streaming into the gymnasium. Cecil paused to snatch up a pedometer, grumbling as he clipped it into his hair, the flaring red complementing his blond really well.

  
Not long after the two entered the gym, Steve Carlsburg called everyone to gather around him.

  
¨Uh...Honestly, I'm not sure what we're supposed to be doing today, I wasn't given a date for the pacer or the sit-up test...thing, so I guess you can either just do laps or play volleyball or exercise your vocal cords by screaming for the whole hour we have left this class period. I don't know, do something,¨ Steve Carlsburg shrugged at the teenagers around him before wandering off to the side, letting his class rush to whatever they wanted to do.

  
¨Our teacher seems nice so far,¨ Edwin smiled as he and Cecil strolled leisurely around the gym, side-by-side, never looking at the other ¨A tad too self-aware, but nice.¨

 

¨Did you just compliment _Steve Carlsburg_? And you don't completely _hate_ yourself right now?¨ Cecil scoffed, staring wide-eyed at Edwin's uncertain scowl, ¨You truly are a naive, innocent, gullible child they say you are.¨ _Who said that within the 20 minutes we've known each other?_ Edwin wondered, but Cecil still torrented on, ¨Steve Carlsburg is terrible, horrible, despicable! And a bad teacher too. The only reason he's the teacher is because no one else would dare to be the P.E. teacher, and he was the only one who volunteered. We're supposed to have 3 teachers per gym class, you know.¨

 

The only reason Cecil paused his rant was because his eyes had latched on a familiar form. Tan skin, perfect hair, neat eyes, lab coat over his gym uniform.

 

At first, Carlos didn't notice Cecil's stare, but when he did, Cecil still couldn't bring himself to look away. Carlos had put his hair up! Into a _ponytail_! His wonderful hair was just that long that he could pull it back, and he _did_! The need to swoon was becoming so immense, but somehow, Cecil managed to stop himself just barely and found himself stepping towards a sweaty Carlos.

 

¨Hey, Carlos,¨ A grin alighted on Cecil's face as he neared, Carlos paused from the volleyball game he was still in the middle of. Without glancing away from Carlos' face, Cecil ducked to dodge a flying, furry, growling sphere that snarled as it passed.

 

¨Uh, hello, Cecil,¨ Carlos panted, wiping away the sweat that had begun to bead at his hairline.

 

¨What's up?¨ Desperate to drag the conversation out, Cecil spoke as he rocked on the balls of feet, blinking, clearly oblivious to the awkward silence. At the question, Carlos cracked a small smile.

 

¨The sky!¨ was his enthusiastic answer, which he giggled at. Cecil sighed dreamily out of his nose and grinned a wide grin, a grin that he hoped would somehow show all of his affection for the boy in front of him, a grin that usually earned terrified shrieks and people passing out, but Carlos, perfect Carlos, stood strong, just smiling back somewhat bashfully.

 

¨That was a good one, even if the sky is nonexistent and technically, there is no down, let alone up, in space!¨ The compliment may have been longer than he expected, but Carlos still preened. He preened. He preened metaphorically and physically, at the feathers growing on his legs at that very moment.

 

¨I mean, with us as a reference point, the sky _is_ up. Only 50 feet up, in fact! It's scientifically proven,¨ The two managed to slip away from the game and strolled the path that Cecil and Edwin had been walking not even 10 minutes previous.

 

The two talked and walked and walked and talked, and everything seemed good in the world, even if everything in the world was so extremely un-good. They flowed from topic to topic until the bell rang, and then they just walked to the locker room in comfortable silence. At the lockers, they finally parted ways, Cecil meeting with Edwin and gushing about his love for Carlos, even though said scientist was just across the small room from him. Cecil couldn't find it in himself to care. All was good. All was fine.

 

And on that note, Cecil went home. He walked home, considering he lived just a couple blocks down and the bus had been taken over by rogue caterpillars looking to seek havoc. 

 

All was good. All was fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just google 'fish flip flops' i dare you. that is absolutely what i imagine cecil wearing in gym class. for those of you in australia or england (i think?), they're called thongs instead of flip-flops. thats so stupid. what do you guys call actual thongs?? im so confused and curious. hmu with some answers, fam  
>   
> comments and thoughts are always appreciated, please feel free to comment <3  
> find me on twitter @komminata for short updates on my fanfics, and visit komminata.wordpress.com for long updates!! i tend to post more on wordpress than on twitter


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